Despite the warnings, 5 December, and the days and weeks that surrounded it, still proved to be a major challenge for me. Although I was aware that people were going to don blackfaces, I couldn't help but be surprised by the scale of the practice. Children and adults alike wore their afro wigs, red lips and gold earrings with pride...

'Welkom in Gouda', giant letters announced to welcome the thousands of Dutch people who came to welcome the national 'arrival' of Saint Nicholas and his black faced helpers, the Black Petes (Zwarte Pieten in Dutch) on 15 November. The anti-Zwarte Piet protesters, on the other hand, were only welcomed by far-right hatred, biased journalists and police brutality...

Do you remember golliwogs? Those black rag dolls with frizzy hair and red lips? You probably do, although most golliwog toys and references have succumbed to a UK-wide extermination process in the last few decades. Well, the toy hasn't exactly done much to promote racial equality and tolerance: terms like 'golliwog' and 'wog' entered the slang lexicon as racial slurs.